四、(核心素养·思维品质)完形填空。
野草与名兰
My friend Richard went far to work, so he asked me to take care of the courtyard in the mountains. He worked hard and often kept the courtyard 1. without any weeds (杂草). But I was so lazy, just 2. swept the fallen leaves, and I never plucked (拔) grass, allowing it to grow rapidly. In the early 3. , in March, they sprouted several clusters of buds (长出几簇嫩芽), whose leaves were green and soft. A month later, when the leaves 4. , I discovered they were like wild orchids in the woods.
As the summer came and passed, the grass really 5. . Their shapes were like those of forest orchids, 6. they were yellow, unlike those forest orchids, whose flowers were purple or brown red. I picked one flower, then went to find a friend who studied 7. . On seeing it, my friend immediately asked me 8. I picked it. “You get rich!” he 9. explained. “This is a strain of rare orchid which is hard to find. Now this orchid is worth at least 10,000 dollars each.”
I told the good news to Richard. He was 10. . After a while, he said gently, the orchid broke through the earth every year, but he thought it was a 11. weed, so he often uprooted it when it just sprouted. He couldn't stop sighing (叹气), “I have 12. killed a kind of rare flower; if I had waited for it to flower with 13. , it would have been discovered a few years before.”
Yes, who will never 14. some rare orchids in their own lives? We always pluck those wild weeds that haven't yet bloomed in time and don't give them the time to flower and bear fruit to prove their value.
Give each grass the time to flower and give everybody a chance to prove his or her value. If we don't blindly 15. a blade of grass or negate (否定) a person curtly, imagine how many “rare orchids” we might find in our lives.
1. A. natural
B. clean
C. fresh
D. bright
2. A. sometimes
B. often
C. never
D. always
3. A. spring
B. summer
C. autumn
D. winter
4. A. fell
B. rose
C. covered
D. spread
5. A. grew
B. happened
C. flowered
D. returned
6. A. so
B. and
C. but
D. or
7. A. colours
B. mountains
C. seasons
D. plants
8. A. how
B. where
C. why
D. when
9. A. proudly
B. successfully
C. carefully
D. excitedly
10. A. worried
B. surprised
C. scared
D. relaxed
11. A. usual
B. special
C. popular
D. rare
12. A. hardly
B. simply
C. surely
D. nearly
13. A. happiness
B. courage
C. patience
D. confidence
14. A. miss
B. find
C. treasure
D. keep
15. A. pull ahead
B. pull away
C. pull in
D. pull out